Greenwich group returns from helping in rural Kentucky

Amy Guerrieri, a Greenwich resident who co-owns the Upper Crust Bagel shop in Old Greenwich.\ and founded RAMP nine years ago.

Amy Guerrieri, a Greenwich resident who co-owns the Upper Crust Bagel shop in Old Greenwich.\ and founded RAMP nine years ago.

Photo: Contributed

Greenwich group returns from helping in rural Kentucky

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GREENWICH — A group of young people from Greenwich spent a hard-working weekend in the hills of Kentucky, distributing food to needy people and gaining an up-close exposure to rural poverty.

“What the kids did was spectacular,” recalled Carol Mondschein, a volunteer who assisted with the trip. “Unbelievable how hard they worked. We had three truckloads of food, 98,000 pounds. Two days straight, stacked the food, gave it out distributed it to homes.”

The 16 Greenwich teens, middle-school and high-school students, spent Thursday to Sunday in Martin County, Kentucky, a coal-mining region that typically lands on the list of the top 20 poorest counties in the country. Food insecurity is a serious concern in the area — part of the Appalachian region where rural poverty has proved an enduring challenge for generations — and many kids there go hungry without access to school nutrition programs during the summer months.

Enter the RAMP program, founded nine years ago by Amy Guerrieri, a Greenwich resident who co-owns the Upper Crust Bagel shop in Old Greenwich.

Guerrieri said this trip by RAMP volunteers was especially productive — with an unusually large donation of food from the Southeast Produce Council, a consortium of food-industry businesses that partners with the Greenwich non-profit.

“We always make a difference,” said Guerreri, and the fresh produce they received in bulk was especially welcome.

“People lined up at 6 a.m., and we didn’t give it out until 4 p.m.,” she recalled.

The young people, joined by another 16 adults, painted the house of an elderly man. Guerrerri’s son, Logan, 14, also got some of his friends and classmates to help with fund-raising and food distribution through the Kids 4 Kids program he started in Greenwich.

Guerreri, a native of New Jersey, was moved to action when she saw the plight of those trapped in rural poverty in a news documentary nearly 10 years ago.

“I just couldn’t believe my eyes — kids in this country who lived without plumbing or electricity,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s hidden America. And nobody wants to acknowledge it.”

Guerreri said the Greenwich students also got some valuable insight from the trip.

“They get to see the real world,” she said, and gain an understanding of some of the advantages they have received from growing up in a town like Greenwich.

The RAMP program also works on economic development, but ending hunger is a top concern. Guerreri has also hosted young people from eastern Kentucky in her Greenwich home, taking them on trips to the beach and New York City in an effort to broaden their horizons.